Richmond VA Photographer | Happy Birthday Luke

Happy 4th Birthday Luke!  I don't know how we got here, it feels like I should still be in the hospital with you recovering from delivery.  You are my 'spitfire' child.  My perfectly crazy middle child.  You are so gifted with sports I am already picking out the tile for the future mansion you will build me when you strike rich. ;) (But if you don't that's totally fine too, I really do love love our current home.

Three was a big year for you! You learned to ride a bike without training wheels.  You've been doing that for months actually, and i'm still impressed with it!  You are SO smart and breeze through 'preschool' work. You are kind and love and protect your baby brother in a way I always dreamed of when I thought of you in a big brother position.  You are fearless. The absolute don't give a hoot what anyone thinks kind of fearless.  Which both excites and terrifies me.  It's only by the grace of God we haven't had to call an ambulance.  Let's keep it that way, okay?  You are determined. To the extent of stubborn but I know it's a quality that will serve you greatly later in life so I let it go.  You are a jokester.  Hiding a plastic snake all around the house and just waiting until someone finds it. 

We had a fun year.  From crab hunting late at night on the beach to our first Disney trip, we have lots of great memories to look back on from your year of three.

And here we are, your year of four.  You were so excited this morning to tell everyone how old you are.  You will grow more this year than before and I am so excited God gave you to me.  I am blessed because of you. 

Love always,
Mommy

Baby Luke! Oh how sweet and tiny you were :)

*Fall + newborn pics by me, Beach pics by Andi + Zoe, and Family brennan newborn pic by Nicole Wingo!

Richmond Virginia Photographer | Raising three Gs

Part of this "new blog" is going to be some personal posts!  I hope you reading more about my life as a mom and business owner raising three young boys.  They are 5 and under and sometimes life is a little crazy, but I think I finally have a good handle on work/life balance and i'd love to be able to share any tips I have with you along the way!

In November we went to Disney and it was the most fun trip we've had as a family!  I had a lot of people ask us about how we did things and while there are SO many ways to do Disney, I probably researched it like it was a thesis that determined whether I would pass or fail something.  We're talking I probably would be embarrassed if I counted how many hours I put in to Disney research.  But it's EXPENSIVE.  We never went on a honeymoon so we have never poured that much money in to something so I wanted to make sure I didn't regret anything.

Here are some things we learned/did while having the best week:

We flew. Spirit Airlines from Baltimore.  It was only $60 per ticket one way and saved us HUNDREDS over flying out of Richmond. It was well worth the 2.5 hour trip up to Maryland. Now the thing with Spirit is they will charge you for any checked bag, but each checked bag you're allowed 40 pounds.  I figured we could fit everything into 2 and we did that just fine!  Everyone is also allowed a "personal" item for free, book bags work great for that, but they have to be under a certain size or you have to pay for them to be 'carry on' items.  Sometimes Jet Blue will offer cheap flights out of Richmond for a non-stop to Orlando, but our experience was at that timeframe it would have been about $300 per person round trip.  The crew was SO sweet and Eli + Luke even got to go in the cockpit at the end of the flight, they LOVED that!  

Amazon Prime Now. So convenient.  Delivers right to your hotel and you don't have to be there to pick it up!  Water is SO expensive at the parks. Like, $4-7 a bottle. We utilized the Prime Now and saved a LOT of money on snacks and water for the park.  I did our first prime order the day we were leaving before we took off, everything was at the hotel for us when we arrived.

Fast Passes, Use them! This saved us SO much time.  We never waited in line for anything.  Except Winnie the Pooh, oh my gosh we will never get those two hours back.  I'm not even sure what took so long but every grown man in line had a 10 minute crying conversation with pooh, we got antsy but chalked it up to the magic of Disney and tried to not get grumpy.  Everyone deserves their magical moments at Disney!  We set up our fast passes back to back in the morning and the attractions were all close to each other so we weren't running around like crazy.  As soon as your third fast past registers you can get a new one so we continually rolled them all day.  I'll blog about our favorite Disney rides soon! 

We have young kids so we didn't exhaust them. We were there 6 days and got park hoppers, next time we go we will skip the park hoppers. It's a lot to travel to a different park and the parks are so huge and offer so much, we never needed to hop.  Because Brennan was only 8 months, when he gets tired he cries until you put him to bed, so we never got to stay late at night and that did mean we sacrificed the night parades but that will be something to look forward to the next trip!  Our six days were 3 at Magic Kingdom and 1 at each of the other parks.

Take a stroller! I've heard people complaining that their stroller was moved by cast members but we never lost ours for more than a minute.  We have a double bob and flew with it.  Easiest thing ever.  It meant the kids were contained at the airport when we needed them to be, and in the crowds at disney when we were going from ride to ride, we never worried about losing anyone.  All 3 of ours fit in the stroller. Brennan and one in the seats and the other child sat at the point where the front wheel is. 

Buy the memory maker!  Would you think I was lying if I said I didn't take many pictures?  Considering it's my 7-day a week job, I remember saying a few times, "wow I haven't taken any pictures today!"  Any photo cast member will snap a picture for you, it's the easiest thing ever!  And usually they are in prime spots so it's very much worth the money.  It drops the photo (usually within 20 minutes!) right to your magic band account.  Now, you CAN get them to shoot on your phone/camera, but this was one less thing to worry about.

Hotel advice: I can't offer much help here, we stayed at Shades of Green because David works for the DOD.  If you are military or DOD you have that option and I definitely recommend it.  It's right across from the poly so you can walk and use their monorail or catch a bus.  The buses run all day and we never had to wait long for them. They have an amazing buffet dinner with a different theme every night that we utilized every day. 

My Disney Experience App.  This is what I used ALL day long at the parks.  Since it was our first time we didn't really know where things are, this app has everything you need.  From walking directions to a ride/restaurant to information about the rides/restaurants.  It lets you know where the photopass photographers are AND wait times for rides!  So if there's something you didn't get a FP for and you want to make sure it's worth walking over to, you just check that baby to see if it's worth it.  This is also where you get all o your cute pictures from.  I actually downloaded and started "using" the app about a month before we went so I would be familiar with it.  I was a little obsessed with tracking wait times too to see what time of day we should ride certain things.. LOL see, I told you I was planning like a crazy person!! 

Speaking of pictures, here are a few of our favorites:

Disney is EXPENSIVE.  But it's soooo worth it.  I made a commitment to leave work at home and go, something i've never done before.  I did chat with ONE bride while I was there, there was an afternoon I did laundry and because brennan was asleep on me I was able to make a quick phone call, but other than that I was 100% devoted to my family.  That alone was worth the trip. 

You CAN go to Disney and not plan it like a crazy person, and the planning CAN be a little overwhelming.  But I know MY kids and we are not the most patient people to stand in line for every. single. ride. for an hour.  Plus, when you do that you are not maximizing your time OR money.  So I wanted to plan it out to make the most of both.  And it totally paid off!  We had the most amazing trip and came away with great memories!

Richmond VA Twin Triplets and Quadruplets Photographer

So you found out you are expecting multiples, congratulations!  Once that first wave of excitement (and nausea?) wears off, I am sure you will take a deep breath and realize that now all of your costs will at least double.  The good news is, not with me.  Whether it's newborn session or the cake smash, the cost is the same for your family as it would be for my 'single' babies.  And you can include any older siblings or you (and your spouse!) that you'd like.  After all, it's not just your babies that will be changing over the course of the year, you all will be!  And I want to capture that for you.

Having a session with multiples can be a little nerve-wracking.  I wonder if they will both sleep at the same time and fall into posing together naturally, but they just spend months of their lives being so close that it almost seems unnatural to pose them solo.  (But don't worry, we still do!)  My moms of multiples will read the same helpful hints post that I share with my singleton parents and so far I've had great success with "my" babies.  I promise that I will treat them as if they are my own! I adore working with babies and families and I think it shows :) 

PS. Did you notice the special up top, Expecting moms of multiples? Book a baby plan before February 1, 2017 and receive a free canvas from the newborn session! 

Here are a few of my favorite newborn images from my twin and quadruplet sessions: 

Richmond VA Family Photographer | Dream Sessions

For the past few years Christy has come to me with an idea for her daughter's session and we pull ideas together to make it happen.  This year was by far my favorite and I am not sure how we will top it next year! She brought in some things, and I pulled together things I had that would nicely add to it, and then set up the "dream" set.  I thought it turned out SO great that I am offering a limited number of Dream Sessions here at the studio! 

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Oh this session was SO much fun!! I think it could comfortably fit two (or three small!) children. If you would like to book a dream session for your child, here is a little more information on it:  (but act fast because this is only offered for January and I only have a few spots available!) 

Richmond VA Newborn Photographer | Session Prep

I am so honored you have chosen me to capture your newest love!  I take the upmost care in making sure that "my" babies are always in safe positions, warm, and of course looking their best.  There are a few things that I will ask you to do before arriving for the session, this helps the session to run more smoothly, and for you not to stress that we will get great images for you to display.

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Before the baby arrives:
-"Schedule" your session.  Send your estimated due date.  I will pencil you in so I can be on baby watch and know when I will need to fit you in to the schedule after baby arrives!
-Send me nursery pictures!  I want to tailor the session so that it matches your style and the baby's decor.  I also like to work with some neutrals to ensure that you will be able to hang these pictures anywhere in your home/office.
-Tell me about any must have shots.  I am happy to accommodate a few requests if possible.  Do you have a special blanket or prop that you're just itching to include in the session?  I want to see how to incorporate beforehand it so I can be prepared when you bring it.  This is also why I ask for nursery shots, I may see something that would look great in pictures.  (Ie this adorable elephant was in a nursery and I asked mom and dad to bring it along to the session!  As it turns out, grandpa gifted it to Maxwell and made it so much more special to be in the pictures!)

Once the baby arrives we will pick a time/day for your session!  But don't worry, I've likely been expecting you and will have some options ready!

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The day of the session:
-Wake | Feed | Sleep. We need the baby to have a little time awake before you leave for the session, this will help them to be sleepy (or sleeping!) upon arrival.  I usually suggest parents to give the baby a bath and then feed them FULL. Think, Thanksgiving dinner unbutton your pants full. The bath will wake them up, the feeding will help put them to sleep, and the car ride will continue that.  If you are more than 20-30 minutes away you may have to feed again when you arrive, but I usually can transfer baby from carseat to posing without too much disturbance. 
-AM Scheduling. I usually schedule sessions to start in the 9-10AM timeframe.  The lighting is great in the studio if we choose to use natural light, and I feel for those babies that are confused on day/time that this is the time of the morning (since they've been up all night!) that they are settling to a deep sleep.  We can be a little flexible on time though as long as we schedule it in advance. 
-Don't stress! If you need a few minutes to freshen up when you arrive, that is totally fine.  I almost always start with baby posing and have a full bathroom at your disposal. These pictures are ones you will treasure forever so should you need to put the finishing touches on your makeup or just do a quick glance over yourself, you will have the time to do so.  Occasionally throughout the session I may ask for a hand (usually the parent that didn't just give birth unless they are tied up with other children!) or two in posing some of the more complicated poses. (Because, here's a secret, they're photoshopped!)  This cute little baby's hands on his chin never actually put the weight all on himself, we merge two photos together. 

Safety first, you guys! So important with newborn sessions.  Even note in the second picture when dads hands were on top of the head, his right hand was only 2 inches away just incase baby started to wiggle.

At the session:
Relax! This is the easiest part!  Aside from maybe assisting a few times and snuggling your baby a bit, you get to relax!  I have a coffee maker and mini fridge right in the room along with lots of different snacks to choose from! As long as I don't tell my husband when it's restocked you will have everything you need.  I've caught him sneaking things a few times ;)  You get the comfy bed area to sit on, and I've even had a few dads get really relaxed fall asleep.  Don't worry, we wake them up when it's time for them to help ;) 
Temperature.  I keep the room around 80 degrees.  I always recommend wearing layers/tank top and usually that's all that's needed to get more comfortable.  If you are hot natured and need to step out of the room for a minute that is totally fine.

I have lots of props and blankets to style your session beautifully, so if you do not have anything to contribute to the actual pictures, that it okay!  All you have to do is bring your baby!  There are a few items that will help the baby at the session: 

• Paci (Sometimes baby may need to suck for a minute or two while swapping scenes, they may not need to eat but just need a little paci comfort to get them back fully asleep
• Milk.  If you're not breastfeeding be sure to bring a bottle.  If you are breastfeeding and have already begun pumping a little bit, you can bring that!  Babies can drink faster from a bottle and that will help them settle back to sleep quicker.  If you've made the decision to 100% breastfeed for the time being, I totally support that!
• Neutral top for you + your husband.  I INSIST you being in the pictures! And I do not charge extra for parent pictures.  Years from now, you will want these images, and I want them for you! :)  I love white for parents against that sweet baby skin, but anything neutral and not busy will work nicely!

Richmond VA Newborn Photographer | S Family

If you have a coworker who has recently had an older child, what would be the perfect gift for them?  A newborn mini session of course!  That is just what was gifted to this adorable family.  And in our mini session we did baby alone, with big brother, AND family shots!  Mini sessions have less setups than full sessions and the styling isn't as big, but there is no shortage of super cute pictures.  We just tend to make minimal changes to the baby and surroundings so we can get through a maximum amount of portraits in our shorter time frame. 

Big brother was sooo cute with her and I may or may not have had to dig in to my mini chocolate chip stash that I keep in the fridge (for an occasional treat for myself annnnnd to occasionally bribe the kids ;) to coerce him into cuddling with sister.  Perks of a home studio, my home can open up and find goodies and endless supplies to help your family with any need! 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures with this family:

Richmond VA Family Photographer | 7 Minute Sessions

There are a few times that I am on a super time crunch but meet friends at the end of a session so they can have their family portraits taken.  Whether it's just to update a few frames or in this case have something for the Christmas card, they get literally about 7 minutes (likely because they're meeting me right before the sun goes down!) to make the magic happen ;)  It's always fun to race against the clock and try and crank out a bunch of poses in a short amount of time, but for these super quick friend sessions, to maximize our time we don't really move around much ;) We just maximize the time by swapping poses and people groups.  

Here is a peek in to one of my quick friend sessions and the cuteness that ensues! 

(PS Rachel is the face behind most of the cute little banners that go in the studio cake smash sessions! She is soon going to be teaching me how to work my very own silhouette machine, since she went back to her big girl job now that all of her littles are in school. Hopefully mine will look as cute as the ones she has made for me!)

How seriously GORGEOUS is the Fall in Richmond?  The trees at Libby Hill are the  most gorgeous yellow and orange in all the city.  I think next year I will do a set of family mini sessions here.

Richmond VA Wedding Photographer | Kate E and Cody

How do I put in to words how special this wedding was for me?  Kate E's family + mine grew up together at the same church in a small town, and Cody's family lived literally a few miles away but because they went to different schools they didn't really get to know each other until a few years ago.  I babysat for Cody's cousins when I was a teenager.  It's all such a small world, especially in Charlotte county ;)  Growing up in such a small town (seriously, we only have 1 blinking light in the whole COUNTY! And that's our big claim to fame and I think it's becoming a stop light soon, ha!)  it's probably funny that they didn't really know each other, but I think they met at the right time because that led to their wedding :) 

The wedding day was threatened with rain, but it actually turned out to be the most gorgeous overcast day with just a few sprinkles here and there.  They decided to do a first look (which I LOVE but never push my couples to do!) and she also did a first look with her bridesmaid as only her mom helped her get dressed, isn't that so sweet?  I loved being in the room for that!  

Kate E + Cody, THANK YOU SO MUCH for having me as your photographer.  I am so happy I got to spend the day with you and I am very much looking forward to following your journey as a married couple and seeing all that life is going to give you! 

Bride's Dress: Caryn's Bridal
Groomsmen Attire: Men's Warehouse
Hair: The Hair Depot and All Dolled Up by Brittany
Makeup:  Kate Washechek
Flowers: Courthouse Florist and Linda Encinas (family friend)
Ceremony: Farmville United Methodist Church
Officiant: Sarah Locke
Reception: Farmville Municipal Golf Course
DJ: DJ Shakespeare
Caterer: Sheldon's Restaurant
Cake: Sarah Locke 

Richmond VA Engagement Photographer | Rachel and Taylor

Years from now when their kids ask about their wedding they also will be able to also tell the story of their engagement session and how it took place IN their very own yard.  I always ask if couples have a specific place in mind that is important to them or if there is a specific hobby that they want to include, because your engagements should be a representation of who you are as a couple.  When I met Taylor + Rachel they had just bought a house and wanted to incorporate it in their session.  

Mature trees, cute porches, and lots of little nooks around the house it was the perfect place for their engagement session.  Some have no idea but still offer suggestions like, "lots of trees, or a water view, or the cityscape and old buildings"  I mainly and exclusively have shot in and around the Richmond area for my almost 10 years as a photographer so if you have an idea I can certainly work with creating the perfect spot for you. 

When Rachel called about booking me for her wedding we hadn't even met in person!  It's always an honor to be able to connect with someone over the phone and with them looking at your portfolio them being confident that YOU are the person they want to book for one of the biggest days in their life.  

Here are some of my favorite images from their session:

Richmond VA Newborn Photographer | Tessa Rose

Years ago I had the pleasure of shooting this couple's engagement session, and then recently they came to see me for maternity and newborn portraits as well!  Tessa's middle name is Rose, and in the maternity pictures we included a sweet little rose to honor the upcoming birth of their little girl. I think it's sweet when clients bring a little item or two to really personalize their session.  For Rose's newborn portraits we also incorporated the "rose" into one of the backgrounds!  And before we did family pictures we also used our winter wonderland set since she's so close to being a Christmas baby!  This is such a photographic family, and I'm going to need Ashley to give me makeup tips, isn't she stunning? 

Here are a few peeks into two of my recent sessions with this cute family:

..and here are a few of Ashley's gorgeous maternity pictures! 

Richmond VA Family Photographer | Lancaster Family

Stella's (middle child) 1st birthday cake smash session popped up on my Facebook news feed the other day, and it just made me smile to think about how long I have been working with this family!  Having clients (more like friends at this point!) continually come back to me is the greatest joy in my business.  These kids always make me laugh as they're silly and fun (and obviously SO cute!) and just everything you'd want when photographing families!  I know all too soon I'll be meeting them for their senior portraits and then we will really have some fun pictures to look back on from over the years! ;) 

Here are a few of my favorites from our recent session together: 

Richmond VA Wedding Photographer | Hi! I'm new here

December 2016 will forever be burned in my head as the year GoDaddy wanted to take down my almost 9 year old business. They somehow deleted the database to my website, AND the backup, and I lost EVERYTHING.  Originally discovered yesterday, but received notification that their restore team couldn't actually restore it (i'm changing their name to bore team, or a few other words I cannot type online!)  By 5 something my amazing friend Liz said, "I'll make you a new website! Just come to Squarespace" and by 7AM we were importing pictures to make my new home on the web all pretty.  It's now noon and I feel like i've lived for 3 weeks ;) 

There's a few things I have learned today:

1. Back things up yourself. Don't expect a server in a far away land to actually do it's job.  I will have to figure this out for this new site.  My old site was automatically emailing me back ups, but somehow that ended in 2012. Oops. 

2. Juggling too many balls only means there's a matter of time before something crashes. As a small business owner (or working mom, or stay at home mom, or teenager, or anyone else reading this blog!) You cannot go through life alone.  I only in the past two months outsourced my blogging.  (Sorry Sarah now we have to do it ALL over again, ha!) But for the past 8+ years I have been a photographer, accountant, tax prep'er, design builder, communication coordinator, IT support, blogger, editor, driver, designer, seamstress (really! Always carry a sewing kit to a wedding, you'd be surprised how many times i've used it) and countless other titles.  The point is, we all need help because it's just too much for one person to run. 

3. If something goes horribly wrong, freak out! But only for a few minutes!  We all have our moments when everything spirals out of control.  Take a second, have a good hard cry that you've "lost everything" and then remember it's just your online presence and you can build it back up.  So chin up, buttercup!  Pull those boot straps up and get to work.  Hard work hasn't stopped you before!

4. Embrace the change. So now I have a new website, new blogging platform, and new EVERYTHING!  But that also means that now I can implement the changes I wanted to do on my last site but dragged my feet on.  My galleries will be updated with only the latest and greatest.  My blog will have the same content AND I will also start a few new series I've been thinking about adding. 

5. Focus on the good. It would have been so easy to go back to bed and sulk the whole day, but with a quick kick from my friend Liz to jumpstart my new website, I am feeling pretty good about where I stand right now!  

So friends, I am glad you are here!  I hope you will keep coming back and leaving comments so I can climb back up that crazy SEO ladder to be where I was as a Richmond VA Wedding Newborn and Family Photographer.  

*Thank you Joanna for the picture!